[Joseph's POV]

"I'm guessing you're the one they call 'The Wither King'?" The skeleton before me nods his skull, and I see him struggling to form a 'human' sentence. I hold up my hand and shake my head. "Don't worry about it. I'll stick to 'yes' or 'no' questions. Alexa told me most of it in the real world already." This seems to please him, and he nods his head. I wanted to get as much information as I could, and right now everyone else was resting.

"Let's start off simple. Most things here will not attack us unless you tell them to, correct?"

Nod.

"Alright, and with the new knowledge that Entity 404-"

Clack.

The skeleton holds up his hand, and three boney fingers stick up.

"Oh yeah, 303, sorry. Anyways, 303 can control you guys to a point. If he was to do that, he'd gain control of the mobs here and could order them all to attack us?"

A slow nod, anger slightly evident on his blocky face. Man, it really is difficult to read block emotions... I'm pretty sure that's anger though. Andrew starts looking around, and I follow his gaze. I could sort of tell who was player and what wasn't. The players moved a bit more freely while the normal mobs seem to keep to themselves. They move a bit more fluid than normal, but they don't really interact much with the others.

Another question comes to mind, so I slightly shrug towards the wither king to gain his attention again.

"Do you know of any way to fight him in that regard?"

He turns to me, and I slightly move my head to face him. His head is tilted, so I elaborate. "You know, keep him out of your head? Your coding? Block him out some way?" I gesture to his skull, then the rest of him. "Any ideas?" He lifts a hand to his chin, deep in thought. This makes me eye the cracks that were still healing on his face. Aria has a lot to explain as well...

Andrew solemnly shakes his head, as I expected. I didn't have much of an idea either, but I knew someone who might. If he was able to get a message to us, maybe he could access the game files more than he thinks. "Alright, my last question is this," I turn to face him fully, and already I know he senses the hostility coming from me.

He'd be right to be on guard.

I step towards him slightly, voice low. Andrew moves his hand to his hip bone, where a sword was waiting. I keep my hand on the gun at my waist. "You understand that if you try to harm Alexa again, Aria will be the least of your concerns. Capiche?" My glare is hard, and he returns it evenly. A moment of quiet follows, and I can feel the eyes of all in the throne room watching us.

Finally, Andrew gives a single, slow nod, and I smirk. "Good. Hate to do to you what I did to Reginald." With that, I turn and begin to walk down the hall I saw Mobius head towards earlier. I could feel the glare from the skeleton, but I wasn't going to look back. I don't regret my actions, and even if I did, there's no time for that now. He had asked for it anyways.

Literally asked for it.

Slowly I head towards what looks like a... gladiator arena? Seriously shouldn't be surprised right now with everything going on. Just as I start to near it, I can spot his blue and white feathers standing out in the middle of the arena. His arm was out, and before I can question it, something rockets out from it and explodes a few feet ahead. However, it seems to create a small black hole that sucks in everything around it before disappearing. Mobius looks exhausted after it and slightly hunches over. I can hear him grumbling from here.

I smirk.

"Trying to up your energy output?" I question, and I see him slightly move his head towards me. He huffs before standing up and stretching. "Good guess... What's up?" I stop behind him, and he turns to me. I slightly smile, then gesture to my own left eye. "Think you could hack into the game with those fancy machines of yours?" His head tilts as if confused and considering it. "Maybe. Why?"

"Well, if Entity can somehow control the players, maybe we could find a way to block it?" He scratches his chin and slightly nods his head. "It's possible. It will take some time, but I could try it out." I only nod my head and look around. I could tell that a battle had taken place here a while ago, but that wasn't what I was looking for.

"So... this was it, huh?"

Silence follows, but I can tell he was looking around.

"Yeah. This is it."

I nod my head. Aria had told the story through our chat room when they first got back. Alexa was a bit shaken up, and she couldn't explain what had happened fully without a breakdown. Despite the vivid descriptions she used, standing in the spot where her first fight went down was a bit more... well, a bit more real. I nod my head, then turn to leave.

"Joseph, wait."

I turn back, slightly surprised. Mobius was looking at me, his gaze unreadable. I could only tell that he was wanting to tell me something, but didn't know how to start. "There's... something you need to know. About Aria, and what's really happening." I look at him, then motion for him to follow.

"Talk and walk. I want to check in on Alexa."

He only nods his head with a slight smirk. It doesn't last long, especially when he starts telling the tale.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Meanwhile, inside Aria's mind]

"I swear I will finish off what I started if you don't back off, Herobrine!" I shout, pushing off the sword that was locked against the blocky villains before me. His bright eyes illuminate the fake end landscape around us. He cracks a grin, and I feel the anger in me surge.

It was taking me everything to keep him at bay, despite him saying he couldn't fully take over while my consciousness was still in my body. As much as I want to believe him, and sit back, I wasn't about to take that chance. He may just need to overpower me enough for me to lose control, then take it while it's out of my grasp.

'I won't allow that.'

I charge forward, not letting him get the upper hand at all. His smirk doesn't leave, and he waits patiently for my strike. He parries, dodges, and continues to dance in the fight with ease until my sword slips through and slices his cheek. He slightly grimaces, then takes the fight seriously. He starts to push back, aiming to land a hit somewhere on me now. I defend for a moment until I see his footing match my own. Swiftly, I shift it up and successfully shift my weight back enough to make him stagger forward when his slice misses anything solid.

Once he does that, I raise my hand and grasp his face. Pushing forward, I slam him back against the endstone, making it cave in beneath my feet. I raise my sword to strike, but he suddenly vanishes, and I barely have time to duck and roll out of the path of his sword. It slams into the ground, and I huff once I skid to a stop on my knee. He turns towards me but doesn't advance. Instead, he lays his sword across his shoulder, placing his free hand on his hip.

"Why are you wasting so much energy on a fruitless battle?"

I glare at him, then stand straighter. I keep my sword at the ready, not giving him an inch. "It's obvious that I get a little help from Reginald when he's around, and the moment he was gone your power became overwhelming. I'm starting to think our little 'sessions' haven't just been for my own benefit." His gaze narrows and I feel my breathing hitch at the hurt that flashes across those bright eyes.

'No, don't buy it.'

I keep my gaze hard, refusing to give in. He doesn't move for a moment. His gaze stays with mine. He watches me carefully, keeping the relaxed position he was in.

His sword vanishes.

He lowers himself to the ground and sits.

I feel his power slowly die down, and I feel as though I can breathe once more.

Shaking my head, I watch him with wide eyes as he seems to recall his power back to himself. His eyes are closed, and for a moment I see him struggle. His face slightly contorts, as if it was painful to pull that much energy back within himself. Before I can stop myself, I slip out a single word.

"Stop."

His eyes flash open, and I feel his power level out with my own. I watch him carefully, and his breathing finally evens out. He stays sitting, and I allow my stance to relax a touch. He was honestly helping now, and I couldn't understand why. His eyes hold slight hurt in them.

"What must I do to convince you that I don't mean you harm any longer?"

My gaze widens, and I feel my heart skip a beat. I could see emotions in those bright eyes that I never thought he could even possess. I feel him pry my mind, and his gaze suddenly hardens. "Do you really believe me to be that shallow?" Slight anger rises at that, and I shove him from my thoughts.

"Our history prevents me from ever truly believing that you mean anything but harm for myself or my friends." I watch his body for any sudden movements, but he only gives off a small growl.

"I have done nothing but help you while being trapped here-"

I step forward and cut him off. "If you do nothing, your chance of survival drops. You are not one to throw away your life so recklessly!"

"Is it that difficult to believe that I may be more human than you think?! Do you not believe it possible that even someone like myself could change-"

"You've given me no reason to believe that until now!-" I start advancing towards him.

"What more do you want from me to prove it?! I-"

"I WANT THE TRUTH!" I slam my sword down into the ground between us, cracking the landscape. The island shutters, the ground quakes, then suddenly we are surrounded by nothing. The floor below is once again like glass, and I huff. I could feel my ender half clinging to my face. I try to calm down and only do so by sitting before the bright-eyed Steve skin. Our eyes meet, and I keep my gaze level with him, even as my sword dissipates as well. His eyes were wide at first, but now they were back to normal.

After a long moment of silence, I speak first, leaning over my crossed legs. "You know almost every detail about me after being stuck here for so long and me not being able to block you out until recently. I know little to nothing about you except that you are, indeed, real, you can feel pain and become exhausted, and you've been here since the beginning of Minecraft. You want revenge on someone in the outside world..." I slow my speaking until I stop altogether while watching Herobrine's expression shift from sorrow to rage.

No... way...

"I was right." The words slip out and Herobrine refocuses on me. I could tell my eyes were wide, but his suddenly grew wider. It was as if he was realizing I knew a bit more than he thought now. Shaking my head, I regain my senses and carefully choose my next words.

"I had told them you are just like Clu from a movie in the real world called Tron." When he tilts his head in confused interest, I explain a bit more about how the creator of the game 'Tron' made a copy of himself to help him build the grid while inside the game. When I finish, he is nodding his head in agreement. He says nothing at first, turning his head to the side a bit in deep thought.

He turns back, his gaze unreadable but steady.

"You really want to know the whole truth?"

When he says it like that, I start to feel concern bubble up. I push it aside and carefully nod my head. He turns his head away again and mutters something. It sounded like he mentioned this needing a whole chapter to explain it all? He turns back to me and shakes his head. "Sorry, talking to myself."

He lifts a hand, then sweeps it to the side. The mindscape starts to shift, and I see his eyes soften slightly. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"